Natural Visage
by cyborgsnowleopard
Summary: A worn and opinionated detective, Cher Swatson comes under employment at the ZPD under the stern eye of Chief Bogo and the warm smile of Benjamin Clawhauser. Past relationships and tough times have left her reluctant to heal and accept, but getting to know these new mammals allows her to let them in her life and change it for the better.
1. Prologue

Heavy raindrops pattered on the window. Dark, rhythmic, wet and cold. The kind of sound that could drag you into your own conscience without you knowing; leaving the outside world for someone else to figure out.

Luminous eyes the color of a golden moon watched the trails of water run down the glass panes as claws that looked like pearls traced the grain in the window sill. An involuntary shiver ran under the snow leopard cub's skin, inducing her fur to stand up on end against the damp cold. She wanted nothing more than to be back in the warm countryside with her mother and uncle, with the familiar sounds of songbirds nesting in the hayfields, the smell of overly-ripe peaches in the summer sun as bumble bees hummed under the branches. She could just make herself imagine, as soon as she could block out the sound of the cold, dark and wet night, that she was back on the farm and her mother was calling her in for supper.

But the drear of the storm hung over her and pinned her wandering mind down like a naughty kitten that had run a stray too far from home. From reality. And reality told her that she was in the Rainforest district with her sister, in a dark and dingy apartment that made her feel dirty, inside and out.

They were both going to boarding school in the nearby city that she hated so much she had already made herself forget the name.

' _To become teachers'_ , Mother had said. Cheryl's mind had one response to this idea. _**What if I don't want to be a teacher?,**_ she had asked herself in her own mind, over and over again until she couldn't think of anything else.

But not once in her life had she voiced her concern out loud. Her uncle had been like a father to her since her real dad died and he had raised her to be a good, obedient little girl. And she always hated to disappoint him, so here she was, doing something that she was dreading more than anything else in the world.

The doorknob jiggled and familiar paw steps entered the dark room. Cheryl met the ice blue eyes of her older sister, Siobhan, as she approached the window seat. Cheryl's seven year old mind told her that her sister was tired, but she didn't want to ask about it because it usually made Siobhan snap at her.

The twenty five year old snow leopardess sat down beside the cub and tried not to sigh as she looked at her.

"Did mother call?"

Cheryl shook her head no quietly.

They sat in silence for a few moments, save for the constant thrumming of rain on the windows.

"Why did we have to come here?", the young cub asked suddenly. The older leopardess rolled her eyes tiredly.

"Cheryl Lee, you know why we had to come here; you've been told a thousand times."

The downy grey fur on the cub's brow wrinkled as she looked up at the dark eyes of her sister. "Mother said it was because we couldn't get an edu-education at home."

Siobhan nodded. "Right. She wants us to get good jobs so that we have enough money to buy our own homes in the city and start families one day."

"But we have a family", the small cub argued vehemently. "We have Mother and Uncle Grayson. And I miss the farm, I want to go back."

Siobhan's eyes flashed for a second as she swiftly stood. "Well, we can't go back! We have to stay here and do what Mother told us because it's for the best! Okay?!" Her heart throbbed as she realized she had been yelling and she tried to reach for the cowering cub in the corner.

"Cheryl, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to yell. I'm just tired."

Luminous gold eyes looked up to meet hers, distrust showing through behind the tears that soaked her eyelashes.

"Please", the older snow leopardess pleaded, shifting towards her little sister. "Forgive me, Cher. I-I'm s-sorry. Sorry for everything."

Siobhan let her head drop, staring at her paws in her lap until they became blurry through the tears in her own eyes. She blinked when she felt a small, velvety paw on her forearm, tears pouring out on to her cheeks and clinging to her whiskers.

"It's okay, Siobhan. I know you miss Mother, right?" The small cub nuzzled against her sister's arm as she looked up into the uncertain ice blue eyes looking down at her.

Siobhan blinked as she tried to think of a response appropriate to tell a seven-year-old. "Y-yes, Cheryl. I miss Mother a lot, but what she wants is for us to have a better future. And if that means being away from her, then so be it. You understand, don't you?"

Cheryl nodded sleepily against her sister's arm, tears drying on her cheeks. "I miss Uncle Grayson", the small cub yawned. "Can we visit them soon?"

Siobhan looked out the window at the inky black that was the rain clouds pouring down on them and sighed. "Yes, Cheryl, we can go visit one day."


	2. 1- Know What You Want

*15 years later*

Cher gritted her teeth, forcing herself to stop and wipe the sweat that was dripping from her forehead in to her eyes. She circled the enormous tiger that faced her in the police academy boxing ring, an ugly sneer contorting his otherwise handsome face. The snow leopardess shook such thoughts from her head, giving herself a mental lashing for resorting to such primal thoughts.

"Is that all ya got, kitty?", the striped Great Cat chuckled, standing up to his full height as he threw at her the insult reserved for the 'small' cats of their race.

Cher's blood boiled and she barely managed to hide the severe rage burning in her chest. She walked around the ring with an almost cocky air; gold eyes glowing as she looked at him from beneath heavy lids. "Maybe I should be asking you the same thing, Phang. If all you can fight is some tiny snow leopard-".

The leopardess couldn't even finish her sentence before the huge tiger vaulted towards her, an angry growl rumbling in his chest. She used his rage and momentum to set him off balance as she moved out of his path and clipped him in the lower abdomen. Cher smiled as she heard a pained snarl behind her and turned to face the tiger again with another assault. She only had time to see a flash of black and orange hurtling towards her face before there was only blackness.

Blackness.

There was no other word for it.

This wasn't even dark. This was never-ending blackness that she was never going to leave again unless-.

Why was her bed so hard?

Cher sat up on the examining room table before she could even see clearly and felt her head spin as she put a paw to her forehead. She squinted with a disgusted snarl until she could make out a female fisher doctor standing in front of her.

"That was quite a hit you took there, Miss Swatson", the old fisher said with a somewhat amused smile.

Cher's brow furrowed as she stared at her clasped hands while her vision restored itself to normal. "He called me a kitty, Meg. I couldn't just take that".

"But you can, love", the fisher retorted, a smirk on her graying muzzle as she popped a handful of red pills in a small bottle. "Just rise above their petty insults and don't let it bother you. That or become crippled by brain damage before you even graduate."

Cher continued to squint at her angrily before nodding in acceptance. "Okay, Meg, I guess I could try that." She took the bottle of pills with a nonchalant, almost routine air. "Thanks for this."

The old fisher's brown eyes softened slightly as she patted the young snow leopardess's shoulder, side-stepping as Cher walked by. "Sure, sweetie."

The locker room was a bad place on a good day. But today was a bad day and that meant the locker room was automatic hell. Cher kept her eyes trained on the floor in front of her feet until she reached her locker, trying her hardest to ignore the whispers that she could already hear all around her.

Suddenly, a peppy voice called out, belonging to a voluptuous female okapi. "Hey, Cher, be my girlfriend, baby. C'mon, don't you wanna go out clubbin' tonight, doll?", she taunted in a high, sing-song voice as the fuming snow leopardess forced herself to remember Meg's words and calmly close her locker door.

"Not interested, Opal", she said coolly, walking past the taller herbivore. Cher cringed as a clamour of voices sounded.

"What, she not pretty enough for you, Cher?"

"Yeah, she likes her women with a little more fang, ain't that right, Cher?"

"Don't tempt her; I don't want my boyfriend thinking I'm cheating on him."

Ooh, lookit, Kitty's getting mad. Maybe we should get her some catnip."

Cher slammed the locker room door behind her as hard as she possibly could to keep herself from screaming as she stormed down the hall. Her ears flattened against her skull until they were lost in her ruff and her whiskers quivered with subdued rage. The leopardess heard gentle paw steps behind her and she let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding.

"Hi, Bailey", she mumbled in a coarse, hushed voice.

"I tried to stop them before you came in", the white she-wolf offered quietly, falling in step beside her friend. "They don't listen to me, though."

Cher stopped and turned to face the she-wolf, tilting her muzzle up to look at the slightly taller pred. "I appreciate it, but there's nothing you could have done. Opal just likes having her fun."

Bailey frowned with a concerned look on her face as they reached their room. "But we can't just keep letting her do that…" She trailed off as Cher walked sullenly into the room, dumping her duffel bag on the floor before flopping down onto the bottom bunk of the bunk bed they shared beside the couch.

"Cher?", she asked gently. "You can't do this; don't just sulk. Please."

The snow leopardess sighed. "I hate that they target you too. Calling you my girlfriend and asking you if you're afraid to sleep at night." She rolled over and buried her face in the plush duvet. "It makes me sick", she mumbled into the bed.

Bailey's ears lowered as she watched her friend quietly for a moment before slinking on to the bed beside Cher, draping her head and neck over the snow leopardess's shoulders as she lowered her body on the duvet. A heavy purr emitted from Cher's chest as she curled her tail around her friend in thanks.

"This doesn't help contradict their accusations", Cher muttered sullenly, yet with a joking grin.

Bailey sighed as she opened her eyes slightly. "Just be quiet and take the comforting."

Cher growled in frustration as she eyed the box of Lucky Chomps cereal on the top shelf in the grocery store aisle. If there was one thing she hated about her size, it was not being able to reach things that were up and out of reach. She set her shopping basket down as she contemplated how appropriate it would be to try and jump for it. She was about to go and find a store employee in frustration, when a large lion and tiger rounded the corner into the aisle, both large males that were laughing as they kept up a string of lively conversation.

Cher lifted a paw to get their attention. "Excuse me, would you mind helping me grab that box of cereal up there?", she asked while laying her ears back somewhat apologetically. The lion's ears pricked, his gold eyes lighting up as he looked down at her.

"Oh, sure, sweetie. I don't mind at all." The massive cat stood on tiptoe and swept the box down to her level.

"Thank you so-". Cher's smile disappeared as the lion lifted the box above her head before she could grab it, a leering smirk making his muzzle twitch. "Hey! What's the idea, buddy?"

The lion looked at his friend, the buff tiger giving him a supporting nod. "What's the kitty say?", the maned cat asked in a wheedling voice as he leaned down to sneer at her mockingly.

Cher's eyes flashed, stepping forward even as she felt the embarrassed, burning ache in her chest. "Excuse me? You have no right to speak to anyone like that and I'd think you'd be even more reluctant to do so to someone of your own genus."

Both Great cats rolled their eyes as the lion shook his head. "No. I guess you didn't hear me. I asked what does the little kitty say if she wants her treats?"

"Are you freaking kidding me?", Cher snarled. "I don't want it anymore. You think you're seriously going to pick on me just because I'm not some big, stupid lunk of a feline?"

Both larger cats ignored the insult and continued taunting her. "Are we gonna get to hear a little roar from the kitty?", the tiger teased.

The lion's eyes snapped as he finally expressed his distaste at her calling him stupid. "No. Because she's just a stupid, little pussy who can't roar because she's not a real cat." He then leaned down and growled in her face loudly before putting the box of cereal back up on the top shelf. The two massive felines brushed by Cher as she stood in the aisle, fuming and dejected-feeling all at once. She picked up her basket and continued shopping, tail dragging on the tile floor as she went.

She met Bailey in the fresh produce section and the perky she-wolf greeted her with an exuberant smile while shoving a pack of blueberries at her.

"Cher, we have to get these. They're kinda expensive, but they're so good. They remind me of when we used to go berry-picking in the country when I was a kid. Not in Tundra Town obviously, but-Hey, where are the Lucky Chomps?"

Cher shook her head, trying to hide how hurt she felt, not wanting to concern her friend any more than she had last night after the locker room incident. "They moved them to a higher shelf and I couldn't reach them."

Bailey shrugged. "That's okay; I'll just go find someone." Cher watched as the she-wolf went and walked out of ear-shot up to a young male giraffe restocking celery, talking to him and pointing to the cereal aisle as her tail wagged.

The lively beat of the Gazelle song blaring in Cher's earbuds was more than enough to lift her spirits as she clung to the seat of the subway train on her way to the library. The internet at the Academy had crashed so she was going to the Zootopia library to get some mock case file studies done. Metal wheels squealed on metal tracks as the train turned a sharp corner a little too quickly, causing the snow leopardess to brace herself to keep from bumping into the black bear sow beside her. She tried to focus on picking at her claws, but her eyes would flicker over every five seconds or so, picking up silent bits of information about the other mammal. The bear's claws were gleaming and polished, signalling she worked a job that didn't require physical exertion. Her fur glistened with health; she was in a slightly higher class, well-fed, with clothing a little more high-end than usual. The Preyda magazine in her thick paws entailed good fashion-sense and Cher couldn't help but breathe deeply as she inhaled the sweet yet light scent of rose perfume.

 _ **What am I doing?**_ , Cher asked herself as she leaned back against the seat. _**Do I find her…attractive?**_ Her mind whirled at high speed before settling on a complaint. _**But I like boys. I've always liked guys, ever since I was in grade school,**_ she argued with herself, her eyes landing on a handsome male wolf across the aisle from her. But her heart was racing as she noticed her arm was mere centimetres from the ebony fur of the female bear.

"Are you a police officer, love?", the bear suddenly asked, turning to her with an interested look. Cher gulped, barely able to form a sentence in her mind. The beautiful sow's voice was like gravel rolled in honey; husky but with a rumbling smoothness to it. Her fur glistened even in the artificial light of the train car and Cher forced herself not to squeak in response.

"I-I'm still in, uh, training at th-the Academy", she finally managed to breathe out, taking an earbud out as she tried to keep her eyes away from the deep brown ones boring into her.

"You seem like you'd make a good detective", the sultry black bear said in an off-handed way. Cher tried to decide whether she was insinuating that she had noticed Cher watching her or not, but the very thought sent her head spinning and her stomach doing flips.

"That's my intent actually", Cher replied with a grin that had a little more fang to it than she would have liked.

The sow smiled; a real genuine display of appreciation that made Cher's chest feel warm. "Well, good for you, honey. I wish you the best of luck, but this is my stop." Cher jumped, noticing how close she had let herself slide to the other predator.

"Oh, oh, right. Yeah, I'll-I, um, I guess maybe see you or-. Bye."

The she-bear smiled again, this time with amusement. "Goodbye", she rumbled, standing and folding the magazine under one bulky forelimb as she stepped off the train. Cher watched her depart and was then stuck between smiling like an idiot and feeling more embarrassed than she ever had in her life. She paused the sound of one of Gazelle's latest hits in her remaining earbud and sat staring into space for a while as she tried to gather her thoughts.

 _ **Am I gay? What the hell, I thought I liked guys, but…**_ Cher's ears lay back against her head. She hadn't had a date with a guy for at least five years, since before she entered the Academy and this fact alone made her feel uncertain. _**But I still do like guys,**_ she argued with herself. _**I guess I just like girls…more? I like girls.**_ She tried the sound of it out in her head, trying not to freak out all the while. _ **I like girls? I like girls! Oh, my god, I like girls. For the love of Animalia, I am sexually attracted to females.**_

Cher slung her laptop and backpack on her bed when she got back to the Academy dorms. She sat on the old fake leather sofa and stared at her feet as she mulled her new discovery over in her head. Of course, over the past few years she had noticed herself finding certain females more attractive, but it hadn't fully clued in until that moment on the train.

Her ears were pinned back against her skull as she heard Bailey come in. How was she supposed to tell her? Would it change their relationship? Better to tell her now than later, anyway. The leopardess took a deep breath, standing as she turned to face her friend. She could feel her heart sink as she saw the small white she-wolf standing in the front hall, ears and tail drooping as she stood stock still, frozen in shock or fear.

Cher's problems could wait.

"Bailey? Honey, what's wrong?" Cher took the she-wolf's limp paw in her own, something in her chest tightening as she remained unresponsive. Deep brown eyes suddenly turned to face her, clouded over in misery, but locking onto her face as if she were her lifeline.

"I have cancer."

Cher shook her head slowly, just staring in quiet disbelief at her friend. She didn't want to believe it. This kind of awful stuff happened to other people, not them. But reality hit her in the stomach like a sack of bricks and Cher pulled the shuddering she-wolf into her arms.

"It's lung cancer. Stage four. There's nothing they can do", Bailey muttered in the snow leopardess's ear as she pressed her muzzle into the spotted fur of her ruff.

"But you don't smoke", Cher said dumbly as hot tears started to pool in her eyes, feeling numb all over. Bailey pulled back, looking her roommate in the eyes and taking a slow breath with her eyes closed before bravely perking her ears up slightly.

"I'm going in for chemo even though they think it's going to be too late. I have to leave the Academy."

Cher felt as if her consciousness were crashing in around her, like a physical pressure, and couldn't imagine how her friend was feeling.

"Bailey, I'm so so-".

"Don't". The she-wolf interrupted her. "I've already had enough people telling me they're sorry."

Cher nodded, trying to blink away her tears. "I'm going to miss you, Bailey. I thought we were going to graduate together and…", Cher's words were lost as her tears got away from her, darkening small lines of silver fur on her cheeks as she rubbed at them with the back of her paw.

"Sorry. What hospital are you going to?"

"It's outside of Zootopia; a specialist in Taimadar, I think." Bailey sighed. "I don't want to think about it right now, tell me about your day."

Cher blinked as she remembered her revelation that had seemed so important a few minutes ago. "Well, I'm bi…I think."

Bailey's eyes widened slightly. "Oh, my gosh", she said, in all seriousness. "Opal was right." Cher frowned slightly and would have been mad at her if not for their newfound situation.

The next few weeks went by slowly, but seemed to go by in the blink of an eye at the same time. Bailey was moved to the hospital in Taimadar for treatment and Cher visited her as much as possible, though it was hard to get away from the Academy, especially this time of year when she was nearing finals. Months passed and the perky she-wolf's health steadily declined. She and Cher would talk for hours until Bailey got tired and then Cher would quietly sing Gazelle songs to her through the phone until her ill friend fell asleep. This went on for a while until Bailey's treatment was intensified and she spent most of her time unconscious.

It was a cold autumn afternoon when Cher's iPhone rang and she heard a voice on the other end that was cold and distant, exactly the way Bailey had sounded the day she told Cher about the cancer.

It was Bailey's mother. She said Bailey had finally given in and had slipped away last night in her sleep. Cher could only respond with a croaky, "Okay". Bailey's mom asked her if she was okay and Cher lied, saying, "Yes, I'm fine. And I'm sorry, Mrs. Growlhurst." Sounding just like her daughter, the widow Growlhurst asked her not to apologize; it wasn't her fault and there was nothing to be done. She then let her know when the funeral was and Cher said of course she would be there. Only once she had hung up the phone did Cher look at her calendar and notice the funeral was the same day as her field exam. She either didn't attend her best friend's funeral or missed her exam and risked failing the course.

She missed the exam.


	3. 2- Hear Me Roar

*4 years later*

Cher sat in the old, over-stuffed chair while twiddling her thumbs, annoyed that her feet couldn't touch the floor. The desperation and anxiety in her chest tightened as she wondered how this interview would be any different than all the others this past week. She had been fired last week from her detective position at the Nimbara 'Dra Police Department; the chief of the jungle city police station giving her several warnings prior to firing her. He had said her constant displays of insubordination were unacceptable; talking back and not following orders was not a good way to start off one's career as a rookie detective.

Cher played with her sleeve, grinding her molars in frustration as she thought of the brutish male rhino chief. She hated herbivores. Prey either always acted weak or used the instinctual force of power in numbers to bully a lone predator. And this brushed Cher's fur the wrong way more than anything.

"Miss Swatson?", came a loud, gravelly voice from above her left ear. She looked up to face a huge male grizzly bear and tried to keep the fur on her tail from prickling nervously.

"That's me", she answered, forcing the weak tremor out of her voice. Her uncle had always told her to never show weakness in front of a larger pred and she wasn't about to let up now. The bear gave her a surprisingly amiable smile as he guided her in to his office and showed her to a chair too tall for her in front of his desk.

"Nice to meet you. As you probably know, I'm Chief Baurin. So…", the large boar drawled, perching his glasses on the bridge of his muzzle as he looked over her file. "Employment terminated for acts of insubordination?" He gave the small leopardess a questioning glance from his small brown eyes. "I thought felines were usually fairly compliant", he remarked in an off-hand way, failing to note how Cher stiffened when he said this.

"Not always", she replied with a forced smile. "In fact, I was implying that we take a different approach to be taken at dealing with this particular case for the best results, but my suggestions were fired down."

"Were you following orders?" The Chief asked, not missing a beat.

Cher worried at her bottom lip with a canine before answering. "Of course, to the best of my ability, sir. I just sometimes have different methods of pursuing a case than my comrades and I-".

"I've heard enough", the bear interrupted her, raising a paw to silence her. "I don't need to hear your excuses, Miss Pawson-".

"Swatson", Cher interjected, the bear's gaze flickering as she cut him off.

"Excuse me,", he continued with a gruff growl. "I see that you are young and hopefully willing to learn. And according to your Academy scores and record, you are more than capable. I will give you a week to prove yourself, but if you show any sign of disregard to your senior officer's orders or my own and you will be fired on the spot. Do what you're told, don't cause any trouble and you might fit in very well here. Understood?"

Cher smiled, though she tried to bite back the subtle taste of apprehension. "Yes, sir". The grizzly nodded, pleased, as he gathered her employment record and slid it across the desk for her to fill out. Once completed, he handed her a badge, terms of employment, department rules and restrictions, a locker combo and bid her good day, informing her she was to start on Tuesday.

A combination of tough murder, kidnapping and theft cases, mixed in with obnoxious prey officers that looked down on her and didn't take her suggestions into consideration left Cher raging after one day on the job. She tried her best to follow orders, to keep her mouth shut, to ignore the insults of bigger cats on the force and hopefully keep her position as detective.

She was fired by Friday.

Once again, her own stubborn, opinionated mindset had gotten her fired from a good, steady job, a job that she had went to school for years so she could achieve her goal. But now all of that was slowly sliding downhill as she found she couldn't stop herself from voicing her opinion or providing a different approach to something that was presented to her by senior officers.

Cher slid down in her chair, one paw drawn over her face as she checked the notifications on her phone. The small apartment she was renting smelt of mould and rotting floorboards so she left a window open to air the place out, even though it was freezing outside. The apartment was merely a small bedroom and bathroom off of a kitchenette in severe need of repairs; it wasn't much but it was all she could afford at this point.

She was checking her Awoo! mailbox when she saw an advertisement for a city at least four hundred kilometres from where Cher was now. A city whose name she hadn't heard for a while, but the name rang in her memory like a bell lost in the fog of time.

"Zootopia", she said out loud to herself in the small, smelly apartment. "Where anyone can be anything." She chuckled quietly, shaking her head as she continued to flip through her messages. Zootopia was a distant memory and her time spent in the Rainforest District as a cub had been far from pleasant. The boarding school, cold and stern, that she and her older sister had gone to when things started going wrong at home. No money, no time, nowhere for them to have any hope of a future.

She looked up from the luminous screen of her phone and around at the room she was currently residing in. "Sorry, Uncle Grayson", she whispered hoarsely. "It's not exactly what I was expecting either." She fingered the silver and blue ring on her left hand, twirling it around one claw as a small revelation hit her.

What was she waiting for? Things definitely weren't going her way so she needed to change things up for any hope of good in the near future. So what was she sitting here waiting for?

For the world to change? If that did happen it could take a long time; a lifetime.

For her to change? Even less likely.

A twisted smile wrinkled her muzzle as she let out a harsh bark of a laugh. "Sorry, Siobhan; I lied. I am going back to that goddamn city."

Cher's claws tapped on her phone as they slipped out of their sheaths slightly in her excitement. She took a moment to wipe her paw on her jeans, feeling sweat built up on her pad as she continued to look for cheap apartments hopefully within walking distance of the Zootopia Police Department. All of her belongings were in a messy duffel bag on the train seat beside her, mainly consisting of clothing, her laptop, her Police Academy diploma and a couple photographs from her childhood.

She had spent most of last night looking up images of the ZPD and gathering information that might help her during her interview, if she got one. The thought of rejection was terrifying and Cher tried to keep it from gnawing at her mind. Gazelle's latest song, "Try Everything", blared in Cher's ears as she scrolled on the Zootopia news webpage, reading about the "Nighthowler Incident" as it was called. Of course, she had seen the serious events on the news on T.V., but it had seemed so distant from her own reality that she hadn't given it much serious thought at the time. She shook her head, reading about the mastermind criminal acts of Dawn Bellwether, the former mayor of Zootopia.

 _ **See, that's why prey are no good; you should never let them be in power. Their meek little minds and instinctual fears get the better of them and then they turn on you.**_

Cher knew her thoughts were biased and was ashamed when she thought of what her mother might say to her if she heard her express such opinions. But she couldn't help but feel a raw, gnawing feeling in her chest every time she saw a prey animal, big or small. This is why she had chosen a seat on the train far from the center of the car, avoiding a noisy family of rhinoceros. Her fur prickled at the sight of this particular species and she focused again on her phone to keep from seeming rude.

She read that the ZPD had a goal of obtaining equality on the force for all species and were open to new applicants, so long as they had a good record. Cher cringed at this, mentally slapping herself for her past failed attempts in other departments. She sighed, switching the music on her phone to an old Mewdonna song with a relaxed beat that made her eyelids feel heavy. Her seat was in the sunlight and she leaned against her duffel bag in the pleasant warmth.

A sudden jolt woke Cher from her sleep and she sat bolt upright as she looked around in alarm, eyes flickering anxiously to look out the windows, making sure she hadn't missed her stop.

"You've still another ten minutes", remarked an old male badger in the seat across from her, looking lazily over the top of his newspaper at her.

Cher blinked, still trying to clear the sleep from her mind.

"What? How did you-?"

"I noticed that your ticket stub fell out of your pocket and it said you were going to Zootopia City Central. Figured I'd wake you up when the stop was close. Guess I don't have to", the striped mustelid remarked grumpily.

Cher's whiskers twitched in slight amusement and appreciation as she smiled at the older mammal. "Well, uh, thank you. I appreciate the thought."

The badger raised a bushy brow before snorting. "Sure, sure, just don't miss your stop now."

The snow leopardess's head shot up as she looked out the window and saw the Zootopia City Central train station approaching. Heart thrumming in her chest, she gathered up her bag and prepared to get off the train, feeling crowded by the many large herbivores surrounding her. The train stopped and Cher got off as quickly as she could, not stopping until she was out of the main flow of traffic. She went up an escalator behind an enormous bull elephant talking with a tiger and she kept her distance as the myriad of sounds and smells bombarded her senses. Large plants decorated the train platform and gave the station a fresh, outdoorsy feel.

Still dodging mammals of all types, Cher scurried with her tail low into a park pavilion, setting her bag down before taking a moment to breathe. She was used to the open silence of the country so the bustling and diverse city of Zootopia would take a while to get accustomed to. She noticed many prey animals were travelling in large groups, their herd instincts taking effect even in this advanced day and age.

Figuring that she might as well not waste any time, Cher checked the map on her phone to find directions to the police department, relieved when it was only about eight blocks away. There was no way she was affording a car anytime soon, hence her looking for an apartment nearby her prospective workplace. Tightening her grip on her duffel bag strap, Cher left the pavilion with a confident stride, quickly breaking it as she was almost run into by an absent-minded mother hippopotamus, pushing a stroller as she talked on the phone. Attempting to smooth her fur down, Cher tried not to take it to heart as she continued her walk, lugging her clumsy bag along determinedly.

"Do you need some help with that, dear?", a zebra stallion asked as she passed a busy coffee shop.

Cher forced her most charming smile as she adjusted the shoulder strap. "I'm fine. Thanks for the offer, though." She wasn't so used to prey being open to talking with predators and it set her a little off-guard.

The rest of the walk to the station was muggy and irritating and Cher sighed in relief when she finally pushed her way through the large pair of glass doors. The front foyer of the police department was cool compared to the sun-baked sidewalk and allowed the snow leopardess to catch her breath for a moment after the extreme heat. She was about to continue on her way when a sudden thought froze her in her tracks.

How could this time be any different when all of her previous attempts had been fruitless?

She blinked dumbly for a second until her brain started up again.

All her life she had tried to change herself to please other people, even when she didn't want to. When she found this didn't make any difference in the way she was treated or what the outcome was for her, she stopped trying and she stopped caring. There was nothing that signalled this time should be any different.

Feeling small and pathetic, Cher padded along the smooth, cold marble floor as she walked towards the front desk. Her gaze drifted around the police department foyer, pausing at the empty reception desk and the large sign above it.

"Zootopia Police Department", she read aloud to herself, her claws fingering the ring on her belt. "This is it; do or die."

The small snow leopardess prickled as a group of huge herbivores walked by her without taking much notice. A rhinoceros and two hippos, along with a wolf brushed by, all talking together boisterously as they made their way to the break room.

"Excuse me", she said, stepping forward slightly as the wolf passed, feeling like she could relate more to the other pred. "Could you tell me where Chief Bogo's office is?"

The grey canine exposed a gleaming row of white fangs. "Sure, it's up those stairs, then go down that hall and it's the first door on your left", he said, pointing vaguely in the direction he had mentioned. "Are you looking to apply here?", the wolf asked curiously, nose twitching as his eyes drifted over her quickly yet politely, accompanied by a curious smile.

Cher's pale gold eyes drifted downward as she sighed. "Well, we'll see. I'm hoping to at least get an interview to start."

The timber wolf smiled again as he nodded. "Sure. Best of luck to you; Chief Bogo's not exactly what you'd call amiable, especially with new recruits." With that, he turned with a wave and left Cher even more apprehensive than before.

The huge Cape buffalo before her was a little more than she had expected. He was a seething, thunderous mass of bulky muscle, dark reading glasses perched under his heavy brow, one raising slightly as he peered over her application file.

The imposing visage of the chief was not overthrown when he bluntly agreed to look over her resume and application file and firmly told her to take a seat while he did so. Cher's gaze flickered about nervously and couldn't help but notice the top button of his uniform was left unbuttoned to accommodate his broad neck and shoulders, the fabric stretched at the seams under the strain of his massive frame. Any of her usual disdain for prey animals was replaced by respect and awe of this huge, powerful specimen of a mammal. She tried to not fidget in her seat, but the uncomfortable silence caused her foot to swing involuntarily and her tail to twitch. She put an end to both nervous habits by stepping on her tail.

"Detective Cheryl Lee Swatson?", he tried in a rumbling English accent, glancing up at her with a dour look as one of his ears twitched in a dis-attached way.

"Yes, sir", she answered, forcing the rasp out of her voice.

"It seems you've had trouble maintaining employment, am I right in saying this, Miss Swatson?", the chief boomed calmly as he flipped another page, pouring over it with critical eyes.

The snow leopardess cringed. "You know, I really prefer 'detective'-".

"Am I correct or not, Swatson?", Bogo barked as he glared at her dangerously. Cher raised her chin so as to level her gaze with the enormous buffalo.

"You are correct, sir, but my being fired was through no fault of my own", she sniffed.

The burly chief leaned forward on his desk, seemingly intrigued by her impending answer.

"Oh? Is that so? Do tell, Miss Swatson".

Cher licked her lips as she nervously ran her claws through her ruff. "My previous employers often make decisions which I don't agree with and I tend to…voice my opinion. Loudly", she added. She felt her heart sink as she saw the huge cape buffalo shake his head slowly, the deadly black tips of his horns glinting dangerously in the light of his office.

He levelled his gaze with Cher's as he looked over the top of his glasses at her and she felt a shiver prickle the fur on her back. "Miss Swatson, I have dozen of officers that take care of hundreds of cases a month and I do not have the time to waste on a young, rebellious detective that thinks her way is the highway." Cher was about to interrupt when he silenced her by raising one hoof. "Now, I am one to focus on the present, not dwell in the past. Saying that, I will pay no heed to your exceptional marks at the academy, nor will I dwell on your past acts of insubordination."

Cher tried to stifle the hope rising in her chest just in case it was all for nothing. "Does that mean…?"

Chief Bogo nodded, calmly removing his glasses. "Another good female detective on the force can't hurt. So you're hired as a recent graduate; don't expect any special treatment just because you're new to the force."

Cher's whiskers quivered as she nodded, trying to hide the burning sparkle in her eyes. "Never have, sir." Her heart jumped as she detected the slightest hint of a grin under his muzzle, but she couldn't be sure. "Um, when do I start work, sir?"

This time, she was sure of an added warmth to his deep brown eyes. "Very well, Swatson. Hold on a moment."

He moved to a filing cabinet beside his desk and took out a stack of papers, handing it to the snow leopardess. "These are yours, they have all the information you need about our department, how it is run and the rules you are expected to follow. Your office is on the ground floor, number 23B and fairly close to the front entrance so you can leave quickly when the need arises. Any questions and you can ask me, the receptionist or, if you're really desperate, any of your fellow officers."

Cher nodded as she tried to store this information, watching the chief dish out a manual to the growing pile of papers.

"And, to answer your question, you can start right now by going down to the reception desk and grabbing a file for me. It was supposed to be sent to me this morning, but apparently everyone's too busy to do their jobs", the buffalo grumbled as he dug under a stack of papers on his desk. "Clawhauser will know which one you mean."

"Yes, sir. Gladly." She looked up at him silently for a moment, eyes wide before he met her gaze. "And thank you, Chief. I wish I could promise I won't let you down."

Bogo frowned as he tried not to roll his eyes. "Don't thank me yet, Swatson."

Cher dumped her new stack of papers off at her small office, only a short walk from the main entrance of the police department and located conveniently close to the breakroom and washrooms. She walked cautiously up to the reception desk, noting with annoyance that there was still no mammal present to over-see calls and greet guests.

"Hello?" She turned around slowly, looking for anyone that could direct her somehow. The foyer was empty except for a couple of sheep police conversing by a vending machine. Frustrated, she edged around the corner of the desk and peered behind it, seeing file upon file upon hundreds of stacks of paper and decided there was no use in her trying to look for the file herself. She straightened up again and almost bumped into someone behind her, making her jump as she whirled around to face the other person who was equally as startled.

A portly cheetah armed with a mug of coffee and a plate of donuts pulled back in alarm as he tried not to spill his load on her, whiskers quivering as he looked at her in alarm. Cher immediately locked eyes with him, noticing the gold and coffee brown of his irises as he gave her an apologetic look coupled with an impossibly broad smile.

"O M goodness, I am so sorry! I didn't see you there, honey", he smiled sheepishly at her, steadying his plate and setting the mug down on the desk. His voice was light and sweet; there was something about it that reminded you of honey in tea or a warm summer day where the scent of peaches was heavy in the air. The cheetah exuberantly babbled on as he straightened the disarrayed donuts on their plate before the sprinkle-covered paws covered his mouth in a horrified second as his eyes widened. "I'm so sorry! Were you waiting long?"

Cher shook her head before the cheetah continued.

"I swear, I should have asked Snarlof to watch the desk, but I was starving and someone just went for a donut run-". He interrupted himself to offer the plate with an inviting smile. "Would you like one?"

Cher shrugged somewhat shyly, not being able to help the grin growing on her face. "No, thanks, I'm good actually."

"I'm really sorry about that", he repeated as he side-stepped so she could move out from behind the desk, her arm accidently brushing against his generous girth as she sidled by, making her move out of his way even faster.

Feeling slightly flustered, Cher walked in front of the desk and smiled as she pointed an accusing claw at the vibrant receptionist.

"Let me guess; you're Clawhauser."

The cheetah giggled exuberantly as he leaned across the desk toward her, adjusting the engraved name plate on his desk with the tip of his tail. "What tipped you off?", he teased.

"I shouldn't have been snooping. The chief just sent me down for a file. He said you'd know the one."

The large cheetah backhanded himself in the forehead as he picked up a donut. "Darn, that was nagging at the back of my mind all morning; I just couldn't remember for the life of me-". He broke in on his own train of thought again as his face lit up.

"Hey, are you gonna be the new detective? Some of the guys said there was a little snow leopard coming in here looking for an interview with the chief."

Cher nodded. "Yeah, that was me. News travels fast around here, eh?" The cheetah shrugged one hefty shoulder, giving a doubtful pout.

"Nah, I'm just a sucker for gossip. Anyway, I'll get you that file", the cheetah said, biting into a donut as he chewed it thoughtfully, rummaged under the desk as he did so. He came back up, swiping his tongue over his whiskers with the file in paw.

"Well, let me be the first to welcome you to the ZPD", Clawhauser beamed as he handed the file to her. "They're a good bunch of mammals we got here, but it'll be nice to have another small cat around."

Cher returned his warm smile, still in shock at his genuine concern, then happiness, now acceptance. She hadn't experienced something like this for a long time and it spread a warm feeling in her chest.

"I can say the same; I'm not used to all these big prey species. But you're right and I'm sure we'll be seeing lots of each other; my office is right down there."

The cheetah's tail swayed happily as he beamed at her. "That's great! Hey, I don't think I caught your name, sugar."

"Cheryl Swatson, but I prefer Cher." Clawhauser quickly wiped the sprinkles off of his paw before extending it towards the smaller snow leopardess.

"Benjamin Clawhauser. Nice to meet you, Cher", he said, giving her a wink. Cher took it hesitantly, but his grip was gentle and warm, clasping her hand gently in his soft paw pad.

"Nice to meet you too, Benjamin".

Clawhauser gave her a sweet look as he lowered his ears. "Hey, well, if you need anything, you know where to find me, okay?" The lithe snow leopardess couldn't help but let a smile creep around the corner of her muzzle as she looked at him.

"Really? Thanks, I appreciate that." The chunky cat shrugged gently as he wrapped his paws around his mug of coffee, donut sprinkles still clinging to his whiskers.

"That's what I'm here for."

Cher snorted as she slid the file off of the desk, surprised when she felt reluctant to leave. "What? Helping the grumpy newbie?", she joked.

Clawhauser giggled slightly as he gave her a sympathetic look. "Aw, sweetie, you're not grumpy; you just need a little loosening up", he said, giving her a grin.

Cher complied, walking away from the reception desk with file in paw and a lighter stride than she'd had in years.


End file.
